


Jellyfish and Jelly Legs

by Dinkleberryqueen



Category: Book of Life (2014), Coco (2017)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Multi, One singular swear word, Oneshot, Soul Eater AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-03
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-05-17 17:50:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14836341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dinkleberryqueen/pseuds/Dinkleberryqueen
Summary: Set in the Soul Eater universe, Imelda and Hector decide to go out to the aquarium for a well-deserved break after a tough fight. It's not a date, honestly, just two friends hanging out in an aquarium, nothing romantic here at all.Inspired by this beautiful art by chiocetta on tumblrhttp://chioccetta.tumblr.com/post/172508123515/so-i-aquarium-dates-are-cute-i-am-obsessed-with





	Jellyfish and Jelly Legs

“Imelda, come look! There’s jellyfish in here!” Héctor poked his head into the previous room, one filled with tanks of colourful, tropical fish. Imelda pulled her attention away from the little tank of curiously shaped boxfish, and joined Héctor in the next room.  
Compared to the previous room, this exhibit was much larger, and much darker. The room was circular, the continuous glass walls of the surrounding tank stretching about nine foot upwards, allowing a full view of the swarms of meandering jellyfish, all glowing gently in the lights above the tank.

 “It’s beautiful.” Imelda gazed around at the jellyfish, seemingly mesmerized by the delicate light and directionless flow of the sea creatures. Her eyes locked onto a small group up towards her right, following their movements as they stole her attention away from everything else, even her partner spinning in the middle of the room in an attempt to appreciate all the jellyfish at once.  
“Imelda? _Imelda_.” Héctor’s voice snapped the meister out of her trance, her gaze falling back to her partner, who was now laughing softly. That dorky smile was spread across the demon spear’s face, making the tips of her ears burn. “I guess these little guys are pretty hypnotic.”  
“Ah, s-si…” Imelda tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear; it was embarrassing how easily she had spaced out staring at them. If she ever did that in a fight, they would both wind up dead for sure. It had already happened once, and Héctor had been the one to pay for it…  
“Good, at least you’re not being possessed by them. We’d be pretty screwed if we had to fight a jellyfish witch.” Héctor rubbed the back of his head and laughed before walking over to the glass, gazing up at the jellyfish with a soft smile, his hands returning to his pockets.  
“Speaking of which, how’s your side doing?” Imelda asked. Only a week ago, the pair of them had been caught in a rather tense fight, but one that had brought them closer together.

 ***

_Héctor, with me!” Imelda shouted as she split from the main fight, chasing down one of the retreating bandits. They couldn’t let any targets get away, especially not these ones; their souls were already dangerously corrupt, and who knows how soon it would be before they would become a kishin._ _Héctor was already at Imelda’s side, running alongside her as he kept the bandit in sight. He knew as well as she did that they couldn’t afford to let the bandit escape, but he was already pretty far ahead._  
_"You have to throw me.” Héctor glanced at her, “It’s the only way to catch up to him.”_  
_“What? Are you crazy?” Imelda scowled, “You can barely even hold your weapon form in a fight, and you expect me to believe that you can hold it when I throw you?”_  
_"You have to, Imelda!” The bandit had now ducked down a side street, trying to weave through back alleys and passages to evade the meister and weapon. “I can do it, I can hold it!”_  
_Imelda wished that she could believe Héctor, but through all their past training and missions, she knew it was highly unlikely to happen. “We can catch him, Héctor.” Her voice was firm, final, and Héctor wasn’t about to argue with her further. As the pair rounded the corner where the bandit had gone, they found themselves faced with a dead end._  
_“Bastardo, where did he go?” Imelda growled, her fists clenching at her sides as she glared at the far wall. From above them, metal scraped against brick, drawing Héctor’s attention.  
_ _"Imelda, up!”_

_As Héctor shouted, Imelda spun and instinctively lifted her hands above her head as if that would be enough to stop the blade of the bandit dropping down on them from above. Imelda’s eyes instinctively screwed up shut, her face turning away as the sword swooped down towards her, only for it to stop with a crack mere inches above her head. Her hands were now closed around a familiar wooden shaft, her rising gaze meeting the face of Héctor in the metallic hilt of the spear. Whilst her face was surprised to see Héctor in her hands, his teeth were visibly gritted and his face contorted in pain. Only when Héctor was pushed further into her hands did Imelda look up and see the bandit glaring at her, his sword wedged in the center of the shaft._

_"Im-eld-a-“ Héctor kept his teeth gritted tightly, wincing as the blade pushed further into the handle of his weapon form. It was becoming a real fight to keep his strength focused, to stop himself from being snapped in half. T_ _he voice of her partner seemed to snap Imelda’s focus back to reality, her expression hardening as she dropped her gaze from the impasse above her head. All Imelda needed was to take a deep breath in as her grip tightened around the Aztec-style spear. Turning her focus to the feeling in her hands, she let the new sensation creep through her veins, invisible ropes binding her soul to Héctor’s. The ropes were pulled taught, their connection solidifying as Imelda pushed upwards, breaking the parry to quickly let go of the spear with one hand, letting Héctor swing under and around to strike the bandit’s ribs near his shoulder. She could almost feel him bending in her hand, stretching to reach the areas that would cause the most damage._

_The feeling between them was something neither could admit to have ever felt before. The way they felt connected, as if they were moving as one, not even thinking about what the other was doing. Was this… Was this what it felt like when the wavelengths of two souls matched? The way Imelda’s movements flowed together, the way Héctor reached out and struck wherever he could- this had to be what it felt like._

_The bandit no longer stood a chance, barely managing to counter half of their renewed attacks, but still, the pair couldn’t relent. Instead, the bandit tried to keep the distance between himself and the duo, even if to just give himself a second to catch his breath and reassess the situation. That proved to be a mistake when Imelda stopped for a moment as well. Her stance was low, the spearhead towards the corrupted soul._

_The same thought crossed both of their minds and whilst it seemed like an insane idea, they didn’t have a choice. They wouldn’t be able to harvest the soul without it._

_“I hope this works…” Héctor muttered and focused on Imelda’s wavelength, manipulating his own. In Imelda’s hands, it almost felt like Héctor was vibrating, though the sensation soon numbed. The ropes in Imelda’s veins pulled tighter, thinning until they were almost like string; still strong, but easier to move with, carrying their now matching wavelengths like sound from the strings of a guitar.  
_ _And just like that, it clicked. Héctor’s form was covered in a bright golden light, forcing the bandit to shield his eyes as the spear grew; the obsidian teeth of the spearhead sharpened into longer hooks and the heart-shaped hilt stretched out to form a crescent-shape that still bore the image of Héctor’s face, which was now alight with the same markings present on the spearhead._

_With a simple motion, the crescent end of the spear was swung upwards, the blade slicing through the bandit like paper before twisting in the air to bring the hooked spearhead down through him once more. Looking as if he hadn’t even processed the resonance transformation, the bandit staggered on the spot, his sword clattering to the ground as his body dissolved into black dust before he even had the time to collapse._  
_"We did it… we actually resonated.” Imelda stood up straight again, her voice full of disbelief as she breathed heavily, releasing Héctor from his weapon form._  
_“And all it took was me being stabbed in the side.” Héctor let out an airy laugh, an exhausted smile on his face as he stood beside Imelda, his arm wrapped firmly around his middle.  
_ _Imelda turned her gaze to her partner, her eyes immediately falling on the blood seeping through Héctor’s fingers. “Héctor-“ she gasped his name, seeing the exact moment his face paled as he moved to grab the kishin egg floating a few feet in front of him, yet only just managed to stop him from hitting his head on the cobblestones as he blacked out._

_***_

Héctor lifted a hand to his side; the wound beneath the bandages had been pretty deep, and it was a miracle that it was healing so well, even if it was still incredibly sore. “It’s getting there.” He gave Imelda a soft smile, that familiar lopsided expression that was slowly growing on Imelda’s affection. “It’s left a pretty nasty bruise, spread all the way across here. I can show you later if you’d like?” he offered as he showed off the size of the bruising with his hands; from the looks of it, it stretched from the bottom of his ribs to the top of his hip, and at least halfway around his torso as well.  
Imelda, however, didn’t seem as impressed. “Héctor, you got seriously hurt, and so did Joaquín. You shouldn’t be joking around about things like that.” She muttered, holding her hands in front of her dress.  
“Yeah, but we’re both fine now. Besides, Joaquín’s got an awesome looking eyepatch!” Héctor’s shoulders lifted as he smiled, his hands now back in his pockets. “Do you think I would look good with an eyepatch? Maybe it’d make me look older. What do you think, Imelda?”  
“I’m being serious, Héctor!” Imelda looked up at him, and he caught a glimpse of something rarely ever seen in the meister’s eyes: fear. The smile completely dropped from the demon weapon’s face as Imelda averted her gaze, looking down at a jellyfish that was pushing itself up against the glass.  
“Imelda…” Héctor’s voice was now soft, his brow furrowed. Whilst it was common for such strange ideas to come from Héctor’s mouth, it was rare for Imelda to dismiss the notions without a laugh or a playful scorning.  
“You were out cold for two days, Héctor. I was- I was worried you weren’t going to wake up.” Imelda bit her lip, her hand reaching up to hold the sleeve of Héctor’s jumper, as if letting go would cause him to disappear, “Both you and Joaquín were in a bad way, and María and Manolo and I thought-“  
“Imelda.” Héctor looked down at her as she turned her face towards him, his expression softening as he saw the vulnerability in her eyes. “Joaquín and I are both fine. A little beat up, but it was to protect you and María. That’s what us weapons are designed for; to protect our meisters. It’ll take more than a few bandits to get rid of us.”  
Héctor was right. The fight was in the past, and both weapons were alive and healing. That was all that mattered. That, and the strangely reassuring pressure of Héctor’s forehead against her own. Between them was an invisible string, connecting them, pulling them closer. It was Imelda who responded first to the soft tugging, taking a half step into Héctor as he leaned down to accommodate their height difference. She was hesitant, a shaky breath escaping her parted lips as her face moved closer. God, how she wished that her heart would stop hammering in her ears, how she wished that she could just freeze time to take a step away and calm her nerves. And yet, just being this close to Héctor was enough to give the sensation that time around them was still flowing whilst they were left in their own private bubble.

“Who said that I wanted to be rid of you?” Imelda breathed, her voice not even sounding her own. She could feel the heat of her own cheeks, and the heat radiating from Héctor’s, both of which only made it harder for her to breathe easily. If only Héctor would close the gap between them- Imelda knew he wouldn’t, he had always been respectful of boundaries and such. And so the gap remained - that last agonizing inch between their lips - until Imelda finally let her eyes and the gap close.

The kiss was soft, tender, and perhaps a little timid; both were hesitant, but that was how their whole partnership had started. Imelda, the hotheaded meister with the closed-off soul, and Héctor, the shy demon spear who to this day couldn’t understand why he was moved up into the more advanced class. Now, they were here, their wavelengths unconsciously synchronized, their souls resonating in a different manner. There, in the soft light of the jellyfish exhibit, the rest of the world fell away around Héctor and Imelda as they kissed, content to simply just exist in one another’s company.


End file.
